


Yuanfen

by 2Hearts1BadWolf



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fate & Destiny, Near Death Experiences, Season/Series 02, random made up planet, really this can take place whenever you'd like
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-17 00:16:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11840025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2Hearts1BadWolf/pseuds/2Hearts1BadWolf
Summary: Yuanfen is a Chinese word, meaning “a relationship by fate or destiny.” Destiny can tie us together, or rip us apart, but we seem to try to remember only the former of the two. Or at least, Rose does. The Doctor on the other hand seems to only remember the latter. But, what if regardless, someone was able to change that destiny? Then what would happen?





	Yuanfen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Avengers_Girl_311018](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avengers_Girl_311018/gifts).



> So this story was inspired by an actual dream I had like The Run and Go was. Both stories dreams dreamt by Rose are dreams I dreamt and then I built worlds around them because, why the hell not. Those are the only bits of both story that I had context for writing and wasn’t winging it. Anyways, I dedicate this fic to tea. No particular reason, I just really like tea.

Red.

 

Everything was red. Her entire sight was filled with the color as she felt she would drown in it.

 

Orange.

 

Orange erupted from a golden fissure which was beginning to weave spider leg tendrils through the mass of crimson. It did little to abate her feelings of suffocation, yet the idea of dying in this hearth colored world was the last thing on her mind. She thrashed back and forth, arching her body and writhing until she was drenched in her own sweat. Frantic thoughts deluged her mind into incoherency. Again she arched upwards thrusting her hands into the air trying desperately to grab onto something far out of reach.

 

She awoke as her eyes flew wide, along with letting out a gasp that sounded more like a breathless scream ripped from her throat.

 

Her arms were still straining towards the bedroom ceiling despite the fact she could no longer recall what she had been reaching for. Nonetheless, her mind was clouded with raging desperation and a keen sense of loss coiled deep in her stomach.

 

Taking a moment to catch her breath she attempted to concentrate on her bedroom as it was flooded with the pale blue light of a simulated very early morning.

 

A mere moment of silence passed before the bedroom door all but flew open.

 

“Rose? Rose are you alright?”

 

Was that panic she detected in his voice? No. She must’ve heard wrong.

 

“Yeah, ‘m fine Doctor. Jus’ a night terror is all.”

 

The Doctor stood in the middle of the doorway, hooded in shadow, but even if Rose couldn’t see his face she knew he had that calculating look of his on. It was her fifth night terror this week despite it only being Tuesday. Er, well, Wednesday technically. Or at least as “technically” as you can be while inside the time vortex.

 

“Are you feeling okay,” He inquired moving closer to the bed.

 

“I told you, ‘m fine. Now stop asking questions.” Rose loved having The Doctor around, honestly she did, but she was no where near the definition of a morning person.

 

The Doctor dropped down beside her on the bed anyways, lifting his hand to tuck a stray hair behind Rose’s ear before placing cool fingers on her forehead.

 

She resisted the urge to groan, even if just barely. Night terrors should be expected in this sort of a lifestyle. With being chased through daunting chasms, narrowly escaping the gallows, encountering cannibalistic ducks, among so many other things that transpire just by their arrival somewhere. It was entirely justifiable to have some memories wake you in the dark of night. Nevertheless, the Doctor didn’t seem to think so.

 

Rose let out a sigh, “you’re going to keep prodding ‘til I agree to go to the med bay, aren’t you?”

 

“Me? Prod? When have I ever,” the Doctor scoffed, eyes shining boyishly with the blatant lie.

 

“Uhuh. Sure. Let’s just get it over with then.”

 

/-... .- -.. / .-- --- .-.. ..-./

 

An hour and a half and at least five tests later, Rose was nearly asleep on the exam table, only starting when a hand touched her shoulder.

 

“Rose, wake up.”

 

“Hm? Doctor,” She glanced around vaguely recalling how she ended up where she was. “Oh. Right.” After letting out a loud yawn, her voice still thick with sleep she continued, “I told you I was fine and by the looks of the machines I was right.”

 

The Doctor beamed at her, “course you were right Rose Tyler. You’re fit as a fiddle. Not that I particularly know what’s so fit about a fiddle. But I guess the saying still stands.”

 

“Fabulous. Now if you excuse me, I’m going back to sleep.” Padding towards the door, Rose shot him a look, “Don’t you _dare_ come wake me until it’s at least eight o’clock.”

 

“Well actually-”

 

“No. None of your time is relative talk. It is far too early for any of it right now.” With that, Rose bid him goodnight.

 

She was too exhausted to notice his eyes were following her. Too sleep deprived to catch that one of the monitors with test results was facing so only the Doctor could see it. Moreover Rose was much too bleary eyed to detect the lightly veiled uncertainty lingering in the Doctor’s eyes.

 

/-... .- -.. / .-- --- .-.. ..-./

 

A week passed without any further visits to the med bay. Nevertheless, Rose’s sleep was anything but peaceful.

 

The Tardis’ engines groaned to a halt once touching down on the cool moss of a forest. There was a soft click followed in suit by the double doors of the police box swinging inward with the familiar creaking of wood.

 

Hands jammed into the pockets of his trench coat, the Doctor strode from the Tardis emanating the confidence of someone who perfectly executed a plan the way they intended. Or, at minimum, was adept at faking their intentions to do as they did. The latter being most plausible, knowing the Doctor.

 

“Ah, the planet of Nekmunnit. By the looks of it the Tardis has landed somewhere in the Tupress forest.”

 

Rose trailed leisurely behind him staring in awe at the literally glowing woodland. Purple trees curled towards the sky emanating soft lavender light. Adorned on their branches were clusters of dark turquoise leaves, each decorated with a unique pattern not un-similar to mehndi designs Rose remembered girls wearing on earth. In front of the pair of travelers the moss path gave way to a set of golden faced cliffs diving down to a field of low flying clouds. Spanning the deep chasm rest a single tree, seemingly to have grown from one side to the other.

 

The Doctor tugged Rose’s hand, encouraging her to stay close.

 

“This ought to be easy for you, what with your gymnastic expertise.”

 

“I did ropes, not balance beam, but it’s worth a go.”

 

The pair approached the tree smiling as though one wrong step wouldn’t mean their untimely death due to an accidental “well I forgot I couldn’t fly if I fell” sort of scenario. But, crossing the bridge was fairly easy for the two of them.

 

“So where are we headed anyways, Doctor?” Rose inquired, slipping her hand into his.

 

“We’re headed to the city of Amarthyn for their yearly festival of leaves. Technically speaking it’s known as Ghyrwaesthillopilam.”

 

Rose just stared back at him, “I’m not even going to try to repeat that.”

 

“Well,” The Doctor drawled, “can’t be worse than Raxicoricofallapatorius.”

 

She couldn’t help but laugh at that. He had a point.

 

“So what is this annual festival anyways?”

 

“The natives every year experience something similar to what you humans on Earth refer to as Autumn, except their leaves don’t fall one at a time over a series of weeks, and their leaves don’t change color. Well…I shouldn’t say that, one tree changes color.”

 

As they approached the city it became evident which tree was the one which changed colors. It rose like a tidal wave from the center of the city. Taller than any mountain Rose had ever seen, clouds swarmed amongst its trunk, thousands of feet in the air. She even suspected it was higher than any Earth plane would be able to fly. It had millions, possibly even billions of leaves adorned on its branches which truly seemed to touch the sky.

 

“That there is Amar. She is the goddess that possesses the tree.”

 

“What like the name of the city?”

 

“Sort of yes. Amarthyn got it’s name because of the myth behind the city. It is said by the locals that before the population, that’d be the Esculaes, existed there were gods which ruled this planet, ones like Vos, Yujity, Neynd, Umseri, Iagar, and Reylt. Those gods represent other things such as clouds, wind, ground, water, intellect, and fire. The Esculaes have about a hundred deities.

 

“Anyways, so the two the city was named after was Amar and Thyn. You see they had a bit of a forbidden love,” The Doctor waggled his eyebrows teasingly as he knew Rose adored forbidden love.

 

“Star-crossed were they? A true Romeo and Juliet,” She jokingly asked. She knew the Doctor adored Shakespeare, despite not having much of a tolerance for calling what Romeo and Juliet had as love.

 

“Quite. Amar was the goddess of the tree while Thyn is the goddess of the sky. These two were forbidden from loving one another since the gods of the ground and the gods of the sky were seen as enemies. But the love was strong between them, and every day Amar grew closer to the sky so she could finally be with the one she loved. Then, every night the two turned into Esculae form and met at the base of the tree in secret. But alas, one night Thyn did not show up. Amar was frantic and so she ran to Neynd seeking help despite the fact she was not supposed to associate with sky gods…”

 

Rose looked at the Doctor sadly, “Thyn died didn’t she?”

 

“Yes, and no, her mortal body was killed in the feud between the gods so she could only remain in her form as the sky.

 

“Amar was devastated, but became determined to reach her. By the next night she achieved her goal and finally touched the sky. Each year since the creation of this myth the Esculaes gather at the base of Amar and watch the changing of the leaves when night falls so as to remember not all love is lost, and sometimes we can reach dreams we only ever thought were unreachable. They call this festival Ghywaesthillopilam because it translates to mean ‘a look or gesture between two lovers that represents the devotion and everlasting love between them.’”

 

Rose couldn’t help but grin, “So they ended up together yeah? Not in the Esculae form but in one way.”

 

“Yep! Love seems to always work out in the end.”

 

She smiled wondering if that was true for whatever it was between them. Though, upon the thought, she shook herself, reminding her heart that whatever was between them, though she didn’t know what it was, couldn’t be love. He couldn’t love her. Of that, she was entirely too certain.

 

“So this tree’s leaves fall then?”

 

“Well, all the trees leaves fall supposedly in celebration of the day the two lovers were reunited. But, this tree sparks the so called fire, as this is the tree that connects all the trees. They all share the same root system, you see. The seedlings fall and grow roots that intertwine with the roots already existing, and voila you have connected trees. So once the leaves on this tree begin to fall tonight it will trigger all the other trees to drop their leaves all at once come daybreak, which is why we have to get back to the Tardis as soon as possible after we watch the light show for a little while.”

 

Rose nodded before inquiring, “When’s this acclaimed light show start?”

 

“Oh, I’d say about two, maybe three hours?”

 

She grinned back at the Doctor, who had already made the leap that she wanted to shop with the spare time and began leading her towards the market.

 

The time passed rather rapidly for the pair as Rose made her way through the colorful assortment of booths. The Esculae, she quickly began noticing, were perhaps the most polite people she’d ever encountered. They seemed hell bent on being gentlemen and gentlewoman to the highest of their capabilities. She also noted how similar they resembled other humans that Rose had encountered, except for the prominent green line which split all of their faces in half from forehead to chin.

 

The pair of vagabonds were just about to settle down for the light show when a small child pointed straight at Rose.

 

“Huy lkse lkis Reylt memaq.”

 

Rose’s brow furrowed. “Doctor,” she nudged. “Doctor, why isn’t what the child saying translating in my head?”

 

He turned and looked at her. “What do you mean Rose?”

 

“I mean what they said about me isn’t translating.”

 

Suddenly their attention was caught by the mother and her child as the child gestured furiously towards Rose and the mother stared wide eyed.

 

“Pajac suon lkis Reylt dawnil nupka?”

 

Rose wanted to keep inquiring why the child’s language wasn’t translating, but there was a familiar tug in her gut telling her whatever the kid was saying was less than good.

 

The kid tugged at Rose’s shirt experimentally before lightly poking her skin. “Reylt memaq! Reylt! Donden quisk nupka?”

 

A hand grabbed Rose’s quickly, before she got tugged closer to the Doctor’s side. She hadn’t realized that a small crowd had gathered about them staring at her. By small though, she meant more like half the population of the bustling market. Each Esculae wore a look on their faces, some of awe, some of confusion, some of hatred, and some…some she didn’t want to identify.

 

“Alright Rose, on the count of three get ready to run, got it?” The Doctor’s voice was determined but carried a dark weight to it.

 

“One.”

 

Rose took in a deep breath.

 

“Two.”

 

She was perfectly aware there was no plan aside from running like hell.

 

“Three.”

 

The pair sprinted at the weakest part of the village gathering attempting to break through the line of Esculaes.

 

It worked.

 

For about,

 

Oh,

 

Maybe twenty full seconds?

 

Then again that’s twenty full seconds they remained further from death, so Rose counted it as a bit of an achievement even if the only thing that went through her head during that time was “Oh bloody fuck.”

 

The Esculae promptly seized them, all the while murmuring about “Reylt.”

_Hold a tick, didn’t the Doctor mention that was some god’s name? Oh great they think I’m a god._

 

Well, the universe likes to be a prick sometimes, and this wasn’t a moment it was about to pass up its chance, so things went south at a horrifying speed.

 

Rose could barely comprehend what was happening around her. She heard the Doctor’s voice at one point near her ear telling her the Esculaes believe her to be Reylt, the goddess who murdered Thyn. But beyond that she’d heard a harsh “I’ll get you out of this,” before nothing.

 

It wasn’t truly nothing though, there were so many voices and sounds and pitches that she thought her head would split open like the crevice in her dream that came swarming back at her with dizzying strength. Her vision swam with orange and gold and crimson. God her head hurt. As if someone had been using it for a drum in the time she’d been spaced out.

 

When finally she came back to, she realized she was above the population. Not far, but a good five feet higher than her usual height.

 

A piece of hair hung in front of her eye causing her to attempt to tuck it back, but her hands were bound. Not even just her hands, her entire body was bound to a pole by the looks of it. Grass and dead wood was laid beneath her in a massive pile.

 

Rose knew without thinking too much what was going to happen. She was to be burned at the stake. With every will power she had, she tried to bring herself to think of a way out of this scenario, but her head, by the gods it hurt.

 

She scanned the crowd for the Doctor. He was a ways away from her being restrained by several Esculae, a number of ropes, and what looked like handcuffs. His face was set in a calculating look, as if he could out smart all of them if just given the prime opportunity.

 

Maybe he could?

 

No. She needed to be the one to get herself out of this and rescue the Doctor.

 

Her vision blurred as her head fell forward without her consent, as another splitting fissure erupted in her mind sending waves of agony throughout her being.

 

Rose saw the leader of the population with a flaming torch of turquoise approach the pile of burning material.

 

They turned to the crowd and shouted two words she couldn’t figure out, before turning and tossing the torch onto the fuel.

 

Red.

 

Everything was red. Her entire sight was filled with the color as she felt she would drown in it.

 

Orange.

 

Orange erupted from a golden fissure which was beginning to weave spider leg tendrils through the mass of crimson.

 

She was dying. Surely she was dying wasn’t she?

 

A soft song played in her mind drugging her with the golden glow until everything else faded.

 

Rose remembered the time she fell off the swing when she was six right before the holidays. She’d broken her arm then after insisting Mickey push her higher and higher. The thing about the memory though, was it wasn’t a memory of where she laid on the ground trying not to cry as she stared up at the clouds. When she recalled the incident she was always above the scene looking down at the twisting swing, twisted arm, and twisted face of a small girl trying not to scream in pain.

 

What was happening now, was a lot like that. As if she was floating above the scene looking down at herself where her body had her head thrown back and gold light streaming from her eyes. Her entire body seemed to glow with a golden hue.

 

When Rose’s head straightened to face the crowd she was silent for a moment. She spared a glance at the fire and her bonds before snapping her fingers once. In the blink of an eye the binding ropes released her into the fire which did not touch her skin, rather parted for her to stand.

 

“I am the Bad Wolf, time and space is mine to shape, and I will not die here.” She waved her hand and suddenly the bonds on the Doctor disappeared. “Neither will you my Doctor.”

 

The Doctor surged forward through the crowd and grasped her tightly but gently. “Rose,” he breathed. “Rose what are you doing? Rose you need to stop this right now.”

 

The Bad Wolf turned to eye him, then addressed the crowd, “You will allow us to walk from here freely. You will not pursue us. I am no Reylt, I am stronger, I am the Bad Wolf.”

 

The Esculaes began muttering amongst themselves as the Doctor and his time goddess of a companion walked through a parting crowd. “Mali Aescu,” They repeated. _Bad Wolf,_ they chanted.

 

The pair made it fairly deep into the forest before pain seized Rose again, she collapsed against the Doctor and everything went black.

 

/-... .- -.. / .-- --- .-.. ..-./

           

When Rose came back to she was certain she was in the med-bay…again…at least the rhythmic thrum of a heart monitor was what gave it away. Yet, as she opened her eyes, she was greeted by white walls turned pale yellow by the glowing sun outside her simulated bedroom window.

 

Ah.

 

However long she had slept she’d managed to make it to at least the next day cycle aboard the Tardis. Then again, “slept” was a liberally used word for the comatose state she’d been locked in.

 

As she blinked away the remaining sleep in her tired eyes she saw the Doctor leap to his feet beside her.

 

“Rose,” he breathed.

 

She did her best to force a jovial smile, though she was afraid it may of fallen a little flat by the look in his eyes. “Hi Doctor. Did you like the show? I know it wasn’t the one we went to see but-”

 

He cut her off, his eyes darkening from elation of her awaking to a look approaching Oncoming Storm territory. “I wouldn’t necessarily call that a ‘show.’”

 

Yet again Rose tried for levity to exude from her, but her chest felt hollowed at his look.

 

“What you did was incredibly- no, extremely- no, _stupendously_ rash and stupid!”

 

Rose wasn’t even sure what entirely she’d done, nor how she’d done it, though she knew one thing for certain and that was she wasn’t about to be called stupid for doing it.

 

“Look Doctor-”

 

“ _No_. _You_ look Rose. You could of gotten yourself killed!”

 

“No offense but were you even there? It wasn’t like I had a lot of options at the moment! I was in fact about two seconds away from becoming fillet mign-Rose!”

 

“I was working on how to get you out!”

 

“Well you should of worked quicker!”

 

The Doctor let out a ragged breath of frustration before tugging on his hair furiously, “you shouldn’t of just- you weren’t supposed to- Rose!” There were so many words filling soundlessly in his mouth that he opened and closed it a number of times before glaring back down at his stubborn companion.

 

With all the little bit of strength Rose had in her left over from her moments spent as Bad Wolf, she stared back at the Doctor defiantly, trying to summon some words of her own to tell him what an utter git he was being.

 

The Tardis hummed in sympathy in the back recesses of her mind, filling it with a gentle warmth of a supportive friend who was trying not to take sides by whispering how he probably had just been scared is all. He didn’t want to see her hurt or killed.

 

That thought alone made the swelling anger inside Rose dissipate. “Honestly Doctor,” she began, “I don’t even know how I caused it to happen. I didn’t necessarily just snap my fingers and become Bad Wolf out of my own volition. Well, I mean, yes I snapped my fingers, but that wasn’t actually me. Bad Wolf just, I dunno, kind of possessed me…” she trailed off at his blanching face.

 

“What do you mean you couldn’t control it?” Before she could even answer he was sweeping her up in his arms, “Med-bay. Now.”

 

Test after test was run on her until every monitor in the entire med-bay was alight and flashing with numerous results each. Nothing was spoken though, aside from basic instructions and minimal comments about how “this will hurt” or “just one more test Rose.” By the end of it the Doctor finally slid slowly down the wall until he was slumped in a barely upright position. His expression was unreadable, yet the silence seemed to say more than his words possibly could.

 

Minutes passed in the deafeningly noiseless room until Rose finally spoke up. “That bad, huh?”

 

He didn’t respond, just stared at his hands as his eyebrows creased.

           

Rose moved to sit next to him on the cold ground, only pausing for a moment before lacing her fingers between his and leaning her head against his shoulder.

 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “So sorry. If I’d known…I…Well, I would of figured something out I swear, but it’s too late now and…I’m sorry.”

 

It was Rose’s turn to furrow her eyebrows as she wondered what he was going on about. It was as if she were dying, but, she means, she couldn’t possibly be dying…could she? She felt fine. Nothing seemed amiss. Nonetheless, the Doctor sat in stoic silence as though he was dealt a card he’d rather die than play, and all that added up to the opposite of what Rose was desperate to believe.

 

“Doctor, just tell me what’s going on, alright? We’ll go from there. I just need to know what’s going on.”

 

“You’re,” he began, “You’re…” he sighed.

 

“I’m dying, yeah?” No point of being obtuse about it. She already knew that Bad Wolf once nearly killed her, that Bad Wolf _did_ kill the Doctor when he was all leather. The thought made her heart ache in the way it sometimes did when she thought of him before his change.

 

But, the Doctor’s head snapped up at her comment, eyes wide as he furiously shook his head…wait…what? Rose was even more confused, but by the time he got out “No, you aren’t dying Rose,” she felt like she’d somehow missed the point entirely.

 

“If I’m not dying- well- if I’m not, then, why are you so upset?”

 

He looked at her again with an unreadable expression, before closing his eyes and leaning his head against the wall once more.

 

“You’re going to live…live for a very long time in fact. I’m so sorry.”

 

Now he was just talking nonsense, why was he sorry about her living a long life? Unless…

 

“Bad Wolf,” was all she said at first. At his silence, she continued, “she expanded my life span, didn’t she?”

 

He neither confirmed nor denied it verbally, but his lack of rambling made Rose feel as though her suspicions were accurate.

 

“Why- why is that a bad thing Doctor? Isn’t that good? You and me on the Tardis? Forever?”

 

But a thought occurred to her that made ice sink into her stomach. What if he didn’t want that? What if the Doctor was one of those blokes who were all talk and no follow through? No. No he wouldn’t. She’d know that, wouldn’t she? Then again, he left Sarah Jane…just left her. How many others had he done that to? Maybe it wasn’t them growing old he couldn’t take, maybe it was more like a child growing tired of a toy. The thought made her feel sick.

 

She didn’t realize she was crying until the Doctor began wiping tears from her face, apologizing profusely and looking all like a, well, like a doctor told to deliver bad news.

 

“I’m sorry Rose, so sorry, if-”

 

She’d had enough of it. “Stop saying that,” she snapped, feeling anger replace her fear of him not wanting her. “I get it alright! If you could undo it you would, but you can’t so were both stuck!” _Not for long_ , a part of her mind whispered, _soon he’ll drop you off somewhere, say he’ll be back soon and leave you for the rest of however bloody long this life span is._

“I would Rose, you know I would-”

 

Those words alone made her feel even sicker, her stomach twisting and churning and dropping all at once, and her head hurt again, and it was really all just too much. She buried her face in her hands and wanted to shove him away from her because obviously he didn’t want this, yet all the while she wanted to pull him closer and ask “why not me? Why can’t I be different?” She didn’t though. She was nearly twenty-one now, she didn’t have the time to act childish. Or did she? She mirthlessly laughed internally about that. She had all the time in the world it seems. Just not the one person she wanted to spend that time with.

 

She hadn’t realized he was still talking, though she’d heard enough even if she’d drowned most of it out.

 

“Just-” she began, but couldn’t finish. Just what? Just take her home? Just let her see Jackie for a minute? Just take her for one more adventure? _Just what?_ Oh this was all so confusing.

 

The Doctor latched onto the word though. “Anything you want I’ll do,” he said.

 

Rose took a deep breath trying to calm herself, “I- I want to see my mum…”

 

The fear that flashed through the Doctor’s eyes made her even more confused. Maybe he was just afraid Jackie would find out and slap him? She wasn’t sure. No matter what she felt juvenile asking for her mum, but she was the only person right now Rose could count on talking sense back into her.

 

“Do you want to go home?”

 

“Do you want me to go home?”

 

“That’s not what I asked you.”

 

Rose took a breath trying not to get angry yet failing miserably, “No you bloody idiot! I don’t want to go home and stay home! I just want to see my mum! But it’s really honestly fine if you leave me because you don’t want me around. I- I can go find Jack, yeah? You said Bad Wolf brought him back? Maybe he’ll know what to do.”

 

The Doctor was quiet at that for a moment, “why would you think I don’t want you around?”

 

“Oh I don’t know! You aren’t exactly bouncing with excitement at the prospect of being stuck with me forever!”

 

“I’m not because I didn’t think that’s what you wanted! It’s not fun outliving everyone you know Rose! Believe me I’ve done it! It’s not fun being the last one standing, and it isn’t pretty, and it isn’t great, and it just is what it is and you have to go home at the end of the day being the only one to remember someone’s laugh, or smile, or even their name!”

 

Rose countered quickly, “If I live though, you won’t be alone, yeah? Why is that such a bad thing? What if I want to spend forever with you?”

 

They both lapsed into silence, before the Doctor spoke, “but you wont want to. Everyone gets tired of this life eventually.”

 

She’d had about enough of that, “Don’t tell me what I want! I am the only person who knows what I want in this universe! So this is me, telling you, I’m not leaving you!”

 

The unspoken words hung between them “because I love you” was left unsaid.

 

However, maybe it shouldn’t be left that way…

 

“Why would you want to spend forever with me? I’m old and-”

 

She shut him up with a firm kiss.

 

If that didn’t tell him all he needed to know as to why, then he was a bigger dunce than she thought.

 

At first he did nothing, just sat their shocked, but after a moment he responded softly kissing her back. Everything inside her fizzled like lighted sparklers, glowing brightly with golden light. She felt like she’d never been closer to having a home than in this moment, with her lips on his, and his on hers. She sighed in contentment, sliding her fingers into his hair and tugging gently at the strands. He gasped at the sensation, and she took hold of the opportunity to slide her tongue into his mouth along his. He tasted of the cinnamon and vanilla tea that he drank obsessively and she’d always thought was too sweet, but right now it seemed perfect because it was him. She kissed him for all she was worth, and she could feel the passion behind his own kisses as they sat there at an awkward angle on the floor of the med-bay. Well, a girl can’t fix everything, but she can fix some things, so with a swift move she was straddling his lap eliciting a rather loud moan from her partner. He hardly waited a moment before resting his hands on her hips to tug her closer. She barely, _barely_ refrained from grinding down on him as every kiss sent bolts of heat through her. Though, as they kissed, as he gripped her tightly, she figured he probably wouldn’t mind if she did.

 

She knew what he’d always thought of her, what he’d saw of her. Just a snowflake on his sleeve. Small, fragile, and already melting before it even landed. A life and a world gone in moments. Yet, what if that snowflake could be preserved in more than just a photograph or memory? A snowflake forever on his sleeve… She knew any reservations he had, any thoughts of how she would grow old and wither and die, were slowly leaving his mind with every twist of their tongues and meeting of their lips.

 

The two carried on for several long minutes until they broke apart for much needed air.

 

“So we’re in agreement then,” queried Rose. “Me living long ’s not such a bad thing?” She smirked at him, for his eyes were still closed and it looked like he was using every ounce of self control to regulate himself and keep from snogging her thoroughly again.

 

“Oh yes,” the Doctor said at last. “But, I should tell you, your life span isn’t forever.”

 

“No?”

 

“No. Bad Wolf did however manage to intertwine our lives, so as long as you live and breathe so do I, and as long as I do the same so do you. I detected some of the signs for this when I ran those tests on you, but I didn’t know what they meant at the time, only that something in you was changing.”

 

Rose grinned, “Really?”

 

“Really really.”

 

“Why did Bad Wolf only act then? Why not during out other adventures?”

 

He pursed his lips as he thought, “probably because she could tell I’d always get you out or you’d get yourself out, this was the one time your life was truly about to end.”

 

Rose nodded conceding to his point and mulling it all over. Their lives were nearly one now, one thread of life spanning the millennia and universe.

 

“So were stuck together?”

 

He finally looked into her eyes and breathed out a word like it was a dream, “together.”


End file.
